“There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.” Otto von Bismarck, 1907
Three fourths of my neighbors voted for Trump, and I figure even more believe that Biden won through some form of chicanery. As I look at media comments, I see fears of what will happen – from tax increases to gun grabs to civil war. There is comfort in Bismarck’s observation “There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.” I recall that, a century ago, my country elected a president – Warren G. Harding – who was even slower than Joe Biden. And Harding replaced Woodrow Wilson. I can make a strong case that Woodrow Wilson was more racist than any American President, including Jefferson Davis.
You might argue corruption, and cite the investigations finally underway on Hunter and James Biden. Remember, “There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.” The history textbooks tell of Harding’s Secretary of the Interior and the Teapot Dome scandal. Remember, Woodrow Wilson had a stroke in October 1919, paralyzing him, and that caused the greatest crisis about presidential disability, presidential incapability, in our country’s history. According to whitehouse.gov, “Wilson returned to campaign for Senate approval of the peace treaty and the League of Nations Covenant. His health failed in September 1919; a stroke left him partly paralyzed. His constant attendant, Mrs. Wilson took over many routine duties and details of government. But she did not initiate programs or make major decisions, and she did not try to control the executive branch. She selected matters for her husband’s attention and let everything else go to the heads of departments or remain in abeyance. Her “stewardship,” she called this.” That was 16 months with a non-functional president. Joe may indeed be going into dementia – but we have Wilson’s example, with fewer problems for the nation after his stroke than before it.
I have been unable to find any record of where Otto Von Bismarck really said “There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.” – but it is an optimistic way to look at any election.
Trego's Mountain Ear 